as a matter of fact, the elephant slated to be sent to Armenia is already being kept in the Zoo. A female elephant was supposed to be sent to Yerevan last fall, but it was poisoned by a warden who felt slighted as someone else had been selected to accompany the elephant to Armenia.

The male elephant at the Yerevan Zoo, Hrant, is not doing so bad, but he needs a mate - and the expenses are being picked up by eponymous Hrant Vardanian's Grand Holding.

Thanks for the info. All the websites say that elephants prefer to be in big groups. Can Grand Candy buy some more?

PS, who knew that Armenia was such a great destination for an elephant handler?

I remember the zoo as being a rather sad place. The tiger I saw there had a great gash in its neck, and the wolves seemed to have nowhere to walk. It left me feeling very depressed.

Sounds about right. Most zoos are like that, but the one in Yerevan never really recovered after the collapse of early 1990's.

There's apparently a private zoo in Davidashen district, mostly containing animals native to Armenia.

Katy: wasn't it the Detroit Zoo that recently sent back an elephant saying they can't keep it?

Yes - the Detroit Zoo (and other zoos too) are not going to keep elephants around any more:

http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/wildlife_news/detroit_zoo_sends_its_elephants_packing_should_others_follow_suit.html

Oh, so now it is about sexual frustration.

http://www.armenianow.com/eng/?go=pub&id=514